It may have seemed all but inevitable over recent weeks, but Hapoel Tel Aviv’s approach to the District Court on Tuesday requesting a stay of legal proceedings is nevertheless a watershed moment in Israeli soccer history.

Hapoel, a winner of 13 Israeli championships and 16 State Cups, is not the first club to find itself in such financial dire straits that it requires a court’s intervention to simply remain in existence. However, never has an Israeli club of such stature fallen so far from grace, with Hapoel’s debts estimated at over NIS 100 million.